A Murderous Procession: A Mistress of the Art of Death Novel by Ariana Franklin

Adelia is back in this thrilling fourth installment of the Mistress of the Art of Death series

In 1176, King Henry II sends his ten-year-old daughter, Joanna, to Palermo to marry William II of Sicily. War on the Continent and outbreaks of plague make it an especially dangerous journey, so the king selects as his daughter’s companion the woman he trusts most: Adelia Aguilar, his mistress of the art of death. As a medical doctor and native of Sicily, it will be Adelia’s job to travel with the princess and safeguarding her health until the wedding.

Adelia wants to refuse—accompanying the royal procession means leaving behind her nine-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, Henry has arranged for the girl to live at court, both as a royal ward and as a hostage to ensure that Adelia will return to the king’s service. So Adelia sets off for a yearlong royal procession. Accompanying her on the journey are her Arab companion, Mansur, her lover, Rowley, and an unusual newcomer: the Irish sea captain O’Donnell, who may prove more useful to Adelia than Rowley would like.

But another man has joined the procession—a murderer bent on the worst kind of revenge. When people in the princess’s household begin to die, Adelia and Rowley suspect that the killer is hiding in plain sight. Is his intended victim the princess . . . or Adelia herself?

Having spent a couple of years living in relative obscurity, happily raising her daughter, sharing her home with her friends and when possible spending time with her lover, Rowley, Adelia Aguilar is not best pleased when she is summoned by King Henry II. He has a task for her. She has been chosen to accompany the King's young daughter Joanna from England to her wedding in Sicily. Also in the party is Rowley and her Arab companion Mansur but her daughter is going to be lodging with Queen Eleanor, both for her development, but also as surety that Adelia will return to England.

The journey itself is dangerous. The procession goes through France, to Aquitaine, through the Languedoc region where the Cathar heresy is spreading and so is the Church's eagerness and enthusiasm in squashing that faith, and then onto Sicily. Along the way the young princess is accompanied by a large party. There are her servants, her ladies in waiting, the requisite churchmen, a few knights and soldiers. For different parts of the journey we also get glimpses of her brothers, Young Henry and Richard, who is now most famously known as Richard the Lionheart. We also spend time in the court at Aquitaine, famous for courtly love and also in the inhospitable mountains of the Languedoc region of France where Adelia comes into contact with two Cathar women and very nearly finds herself being treated as one.

In keeping with the attitudes of the time, Mansur and Adelia are mistrusted by many of their travelling companions, especially after some of their travelling companions begin to be murdered. It isn't clear though exactly who it is that is the target. Is it the princess? Is it someone who is hoping to steal the priceless treasure that is travelling with the party, or is it someone who is targeting Adelia herself?

I never thought I would find myself saying this about a Ariana Franklin/Diana Norman novel, but I didn't really enjoy this one that much.There are a number of reasons why.

The first is that the author used quite an unusual technique in that where ever we were inside the thoughts of the characters then those thoughts were italicised. No great drama there, except that we spent the majority of time inside the thoughts of Scarry, who is the villain of the piece but then we were following Adelia's thoughts, and then back to Scarry. At one point, I was waiting for us to get a glimpse into the thoughts of the dog. And yes, we know the whole time through the book who the villain is. What we don't know is who he is disguised as and what role he has within the travelling party. That mystery in itself is not too badly handled.

The second is that I didn't like Rowley as much as I usually do. I have liked Rowley in the previous books with his unusual mix of knight and churchman sensibilities. Here is a man who is in love with a woman but is restricted from being able to be with her because he was appointed to a role within the church and because of her occupation and beliefs. In this book he has morphed into a jealous and domineering lover (and yes, you are reminded repeatedly that he and Adelia are lovers). It is difficult for Adelia and Rowley because he is a church man and therefore can not be seen to have a lover and so they are forced to stay away from one another during the procession, but at one stop on their journey he hires a room for them, and basically on arrival he walks in and says " Renting this hovel is costing me a fortune. Now get your clothes off."  Yes, he was always a man's man with man's needs but it just didn't feel to me as though this is the way that Rowley would have spoken to Adelia in the previous books.

Adelia was also a bit more petulant than she normally seemed to be to me, often being angry with Rowley and Mansur and not speaking to them etc. Admittedly everyone around her seemed to know what was happening to her and they did their best to make sure that she didn't know which annoyed  her, but still. I didn't like this aspect of her character.

I am not sure if it is that I am not remembering this from the previous books but it seems to me that this book was a lot coarser than the earlier books in the series. For example, at one point the Bishop of Avergnon is imagining the burning at the stake of a Cathar woman and the description given is:

When Gerhardt had gone, his lord poured himself another glass of the vintage from his vineyard near Carcassonne and sipped it while he engineered a new vision of Ermengarde his black-clad tauntress, this time tied to a stake with faggots laid around her feet.

He saw himself thrusting a torch into the wood like a penis into her parts and sighed because, alas, that pleasure must be left to the executioner. One day, though, yes, yes, one day, the flames he'd light would consume them all...men, women, and children.

This really was most excellent wine.

There were also a number of new characters introduced from a new maid named Boggart, and the charismatic, charming, almost swashbuckling captain O'Donnell. I am not sure what the purpose of introducing O'Donnell was really. I liked O'Donnell a lot, and I would be happy to read more about him, but without giving too much away it almost seemed as though it was an unfulfilled attempt at a love triangle. I suspect though that we will see more of O'Donnell in future books in the series, which may give us more insight into what the author was trying to achieve.

In no way am I suggesting that I am giving up on this author, because I have enjoyed far too many of her books over the last few years to let one disappointment get in my way. I might be a little more wary though when I start the next book.

This book is my August read for the Year of the Historical, and I am also potentially counting it as a read for the French Historical challenge, simply because a lot of the book was set in France, and we see the beginnings of one of the major events for France - the persecution of the Cathars that led to the only crusade on European soil.

Rating: 3/5

The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin

In twelfth-century England, one remarkable woman is trained to uncover the final secrets of the dead.

Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonising death by poison - and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime suspect. Henry suspects that Rosamund's murder is the first move in Eleanor's long-simmering plot to overthrow him. If Eleanor is guilty, the result could be civil war. The king must once again summon Adelia Aguilar, mistress of the art of death, to uncover the truth.

Adelia is not happy to be called out of retirement. She has been living contentedly in the countryside, caring for her infant daughter. But Henry's summons can not be ignored, and Adelia must again join forces with the king's trusted fixer, Rowley Picot, the Bishop of Saint Albans, who is also her baby's father.

Adelia and Rowley travel to the murdered courtesan's home, a tower within a walled maze - a strange and sinister place from the outside, where a bizarre and gruesome discovery awaits them. But Adelia's investigation is cut short by the appearance of Rosamund's rival: Queen Eleanor. Adelia, Rowley, and the other members of her small party are taken to the nunnery in Godstow, where Eleanor is holed up for the winter with her band of mercenaries.

Isolated and trapped inside the nunnery by the snow and cold, Adelia watchs as dead bodies begin piling up. The murders are somehow connected with Rosamund's demise. Adelia knows that there may be more than one killer at work, and she must unveil their true identities before England is once again plunged into civil war.

It's fair to say that I really enjoy the work of British author Diana Norman, whether we are talking about the straight historical novels that she publishes under that name, or the historical mysteries that she has started to write under the pen name of Ariana Franklin.

With the character of Adelia Aguilar, we have a character who can take us to the heart of a medieval murder, in the same way that we can see when we watch TV series like CSI. She has been specially trained in the medical schools of Italy to investigate the hows and whys of peoples deaths. In the previous book in the series (Mistress of the Art of Death), Adelia found herself in King Henry II's England, and with this book she is summoned again by the king himself to investigate and see whether his beloved mistress, Rosamund Clifford, may have been murdered, even though she lives in a tower in the middle of a barely accessible maze.

What complicates the investigation this time is that Adelia not only has to look after her own safety, and the safety of her friends, but also that of her daughter. She is being accompanied during her investigation Rowley Picot, a man of many masks - the King's trusted fixer, Bishop, Adelia's ex lover, and father of her child.

For me, one of the strongest parts of this novel was when all the characters were snowed in together for a good length of time. With everyone eager to impress Queen Eleanor who has unexpectedly arrived, and who is looking to start an uprising against her husband for her own reasons, life in a small community is difficult enough, let alone when you are trying to investigate a crime, and keep the Queen happy at the same time.

There is less of the investigation aspect used in this novel, and more interaction with the other characters, most of them have more than one agenda. As the body count grows, Adelia must protect her people, untangle the complicated relationships, and find the murderers of a several people.

I know that there are people who have read the first novel for whom the relationship with Rowley didn't really work, but it really doesn't bother me. I like that there is a chance for Adelia to be loved for the strong and intelligent woman that she is, even if it is a love that has to be constrained by time, distance and circumstance. It probably helps that I like Rowley a lot.

Overall, another fun read, from a fine historical author. I look forward to reading Grave Goods, the third book in the series, which is due to be released in March 2009. It is probably worth mentioning that this book has also been released under a different title in some countries - Death Maze.

This is one of the books that I nominated to read as part of the Pub08 Reading Challenge. I am also using it as one of my books for the Medieval Challenge.

As always, if you have reviewed this book, then please leave a comment and I will add your link to my review so that others can read a variety of opinions about this book.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

In Cambridge, a child has been hideously murdered and other children have disappeared. The Jews, made scapegoats by the all-powerful Christian clergy, have been forced to retreat into the castle to avoid slaughter by angry townspeople.

Henry, King of England, is displeased. The Jews provide a large part of his revenue and therefore the real killer must be found, and quickly. A renowned investigator, Simon of Naples, is recruited and he arrives in town from the continent accompanied by an Arab and a young woman, Adelia Aguilar.

There are few female doctors in twelfth century Europe, but Adelia is one of them, having qualified at the great School of Medicine in Salerno. What's more, her speciality is the study of corpses; she is, in fact, a mistress of the art of death, a skill that must be concealed in case she's accused of witchcraft.

Adelia's investigation takes her deep into Cambridge, its castle and convents and in a medieval city teeming with life, Adelia makes friends and even finds romance. And, fatally, the attention of a murderer who is prepared to kill again.

As soon as I learned that the name Ariana Franklin was a pseudonym for Diana Norman, I added it to my TBR list! I did, however, have to wait a little while for it to come onto the library list but it did eventually! I was a bit worried that it wasn't going to because the first book written under this name (City of Shadows) still hasn't made it onto the catalogue! I am too impatient after reading this one...I've ordered it from The Book Depository (have I mentioned recently how much I love that store...it is so much cheaper for me to buy books from there than it is to go into a bookstore here.)

A young boy is found murdered and because he was crucified before being found in the river, and now two more children are missing. The finger has been pointed at the Jews of Cambridge, the townspeople have revolted against them and now the Jews are sheltering in the castle. This situation doesn't make anyone happy - least of all the volatile King Henry II, who now not only has to feed all these people, but whose treasury is now falling woefully short of funds because the Jews are not paying him his share! Something must be done.

And so, at the behest of the King of Sicily, our main characters enter the story. He has agreed to send some investigators to help hopefully clear the name of the Cambridge Jews, to find out who the murderer really was, and to set matters to rights again. The group that is sent to England is an interesting one. There is Simon the Jew, Mansur the Saracen and a young female doctor by the name of Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar. Whilst a female doctor is not all that unusual in the medical schools of Salerno, it is unheard of in 12th century England, and steps have to be taken to make it appear as though Mansur is the doctor in order to ensure that there are no accusations of witchcraft. Even in Salerno Adelia is somewhat unusual though, because she is no ordinary doctor. She is a Mistress of the Art of Death, someone who looks at a body and tries to figure out how they died - performing an early kind of autopsy.

The book opens at a cracking pace, with all of the main characters, including our investigators, a prioress and a prior who never see eye to eye, a couple of crusader knights, the king's tax man all travelling together in convoy heading towards Cambridge. Unfortunately the prior has a very delicate problem. He is unable to urinate, and his bladder is in danger of bursting, so it is Adelia to the rescue, performing a very sensitive operation on the Prior, and thus ensuring that they have at least one person on their side once they get to Cambridge. Coincidentally, as the group arrive in the town, so the bodies of the other missing children turn up to, and so Adelia is able to commence her examinations.

It isn't long before the townspeople know that they have a new doctor in town, and so not only are the investigators required to try and determined how and why the children died, and who killed them, but also maintain the masquerade that Mansur is the doctor and Adelia is his assistant.

With the field of suspects narrowing, everyone is now in danger, and Adelia and her companions must decide who to trust, especially as she is feeling a growing attachment to one of the suspects, who is the King's tax man, Sir Rowley Picolt. The growing relationship between the two of them was deftly handled, without being completely cliched, and whilst the resolution may have been somewhat unusual and unlikely, it did suit the two characters involved.

With a great group of supporting characters, colourful descriptions of time and place, conflict between Church and state, between religions and between man and woman, there is a lot going on in this novel, but for the most part the author manages to keep all the threads in hand and neatly weaves them together for a very chilling showdown with the killer, and the resulting trials were very dramatic as well.

The characters that have been introduced in this book are certainly interesting and colourful, and would fit naturally in a series, so I was glad to hear that there is another Mistress book to come! No idea when it is coming..but just the fact that it is is enough for now!

Rating 4/5